2 minutes
121 Financial Credit Union encourages reviews on its blog, Facebook and Twitter.
When customers talk, people listen.
Internet giants like Amazon and TripAdvisor power their business on customer reviews, and the Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising Survey supports that approach with its finding that 68 percent of respondents trust consumer opinions posted online (Internet reviews ranked third in the 2013 survey behind word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and family, at 84 percent, and advertising on branded websites, at 69 percent).
121 Financial Credit Union aims to take full advantage of positive feedback by encouraging members to post reviews on its blog, Facebook and Twitter.
“Studies shows that consumers really do believe real stories from their peers carry a whole lot more weight than what businesses say about themselves in ads,” says CUES member Cindy Breslin, VP/marketing for the $450 million Jacksonville, Fla., credit union with 38,000 members. As an added impetus, “75 to 80 percent of our new members come from referrals, whether verbal or posted online.”
Yet another consideration is that online reviews are a key factor in how Google ranks search engine returns, Breslin notes. 121 Financial CU (pronounced “one-to-one”) works with third-party vendor WSI (We Simplify the Internet), to hone the CU’s online marketing strategy and continually improve its Internet positioning.
“More and more interactions with our members are happening online, so we’ve engaged an online media expert to help monitor mentions of our credit union,” she says. “An immediate response is required. It’s just the way social media is today.”
Some members post spontaneously online, and the credit union also encourages members who add comments to email and print surveys to share their views electronically. Many of the reviews—the credit union receives from one to eight per month—focus on members’ favorite branches and employees, so the marketing staff has developed “push cards” for front-line staff to hand out to members, listing online outlets where they can share their thoughts about the credit union.
Not all online posts are positive, Breslin acknowledges, “but even bad reviews give us an opportunity to improve and to show that we are responsive to immediately try to resolve the issue.
“We’d rather that members be sharing a bad experience, even if it’s public and online, so we can address it and resolve it, instead of them just complaining privately to their family and friends,” she adds. “We want to turn it over as quickly as possible to the manager of the branch or department who’s been face to face with the member to take care of the problem.”
Karen Bankston is a long-time contributor to Credit Union Management and writes about credit unions, membership growth, marketing, operations and technology. She is the proprietor of Precision Prose, Stoughton, Wis.
Photocredit: Dollarphotoclub.com/gow27
